On August 1, 2008, a total solar eclipse occurred as the new moon moved directly between the sun and the earth. The moon's umbral shadow fell on parts of Canada, Greenland, the Arctic Ocean, Russia, Mongolia, and China. The Exploratorium's eclipse expedition team (our fifth!) Webcast the eclipse live from the remote Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwestern China near the Mongolian border.

In the summer of 2008, the only helicopter in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, was effectively grounded by a diamond company, leaving scientists and logistics coordinators to frantically rearrange their field plans.

In this video interview from Greenland, geologist Tom Neumann from the University of Vermont explains how he and his colleagues are attempting to read the history of the Greenland Ice Sheet by collecting and analyzing rocks spit out from the base of the glacier.

Webcasts made possible through
the generosity of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The Jim Clark
Endowment for Internet Education, the McBean Family Foundation,.and the Corporation for Educational Networks Initiatives in California (CENIC).